Cameron Faces Toughest Grilling of Premiership at Media Probe

By Robert Hutton -
Jun 13, 2012

David Cameron will face his toughest
grilling since becoming prime minister in 2010 when he appears
before the U.K.’s media-ethics inquiry to answer questions about
his relationship with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Cameron’s scheduled 5 1/2 hours of testimony to Judge Brian Leveson in London today will take place under oath, be broadcast
live on television and will deal with his private life and
friendships.

The prime minister’s line on his government’s handling of
News Corp.’s 2010 bid for British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) is
likely to be close to that of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who told Leveson on June 11 he’d had no view for or
against it, beyond seeing it as a “political inconvenience.”
Cameron will repeat statements that his former press chief, Andy Coulson, assured him he’d known nothing about phone hacking in
his time editing Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid.

“Most of the damaging information is out already, so this
is likely to be a damp squib,” Philip Cowley, a professor of
politics at Nottingham University, said in an interview. “But
there may be awkward moments as they get into the areas where
policy and friendships overlap.”

Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry last July, after
evidence emerged of widespread hacking at the News of the World,
leading News Corp. to shut the newspaper, Britain’s biggest-selling, and abandon the BSkyB bid.

Judgment Questioned

The premier’s judgment was questioned for his hiring of
Coulson in 2007. He’d quit earlier that year as News of the
World editor after one of his reporters was jailed for hacking.
Cameron defended his press chief amid newspaper reports in 2009
that hacking had gone beyond that single reporter. Coulson
joined Cameron in the government before resigning at the start
of 2011.

The former editor was charged last month with perjury in
relation to evidence he gave in a Scottish court case in 2010.
He denies the charge.

The prime minister’s contacts with News Corp. have been the
subject of increased scrutiny since he set up the inquiry. The
probe has heard testimony about a Christmas dinner with James Murdoch and a horse-riding outing with Charlie Brooks, husband
of former News Corp. executive Rebekah Brooks.

Rebekah and Charlie Brooks appeared in court yesterday
charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in
connection with phone hacking. They deny the charges.

Senior Lawyer

Preparations for the inquiry have seen Cameron’s office
compile a list of every journalist he’s met since becoming
leader of the Conservative Party in 2005. The prime minister has
had the help of a senior lawyer as he gets ready for a full day
of questioning.

The government was initially sufficiently relaxed about
Leveson’s inquiry that ministers didn’t apply for “core
participant” status, allowing them advance sight of evidence.
That left them blindsided in April when News Corp. produced e-mails that showed close contact between Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s office and a News Corp. lobbyist during the time Hunt was
deciding on the BSkyB bid. One of Hunt’s aides resigned the
following day.

Hunt survived a Commons motion by the opposition Labour
Party yesterday calling for a ministerial-standards watchdog to
investigate him. The Conservatives’ coalition allies, the
Liberal Democrats, abstained. Cameron said yesterday that he’ll
use his appearance to propose changes to the rules governing
ministerial aides.

Brown, Major

Two former prime ministers, Labour’s Gordon Brown and the
Conservative John Major, testified to Leveson this week about
their dealings with Murdoch, as well as Osborne, Deputy Prime
Minister Nick Clegg, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond,
the first minister of Scotland.

Cameron said when he announced the inquiry that he wanted
to see former prime ministers called, and he has repeatedly
pointed to Labour’s attempts to get close to News Corp. (NWSA), whose
newspapers make up a third of the British market by circulation.

Brown denied that, saying the Conservatives had been given
the support of Murdoch’s Sun newspaper in the 2010 election in
return for compliance on media policy. Osborne, speaking later
the same day, rejected that.

Clegg yesterday contrasted his own Liberal Democrats with
both the larger parties. “I’m lucky enough to lead a party
that’s never been in anyone’s pocket,” he told Leveson, going
on to suggest that other politicians should “get up off their
knees.”